'Obama may serve only one term as US president'
New York, Jan 12: The market collapse in the United States will force President-elect Barack Obama to abandon many of his campaign promises. If his stimulus plan 'doesn"t work out' he may very well be a one-term president, predicted New York Times reporters at the White House.
The reporters, gathered at on Jan 11, at a Sunday afternoon panel at the New York Times Center in New York City, largely concurred with the assessment that turning around the economy now trumps the issues Obama focused on from the stump until the market meltdown in August.
It was suggested Obama would tackle smaller-scale issues related to his major agenda items as a kind of political 'down payment' on his promises, but for now, would retreat from even some of his firmest pledges. One of the reporters said: “You"re not going to see universal health care, I don"t think, this year. You"re not going to see a cap on carbon emissions, as he has promised, probably, this year."
And for all of his campaign trail talk about collective sacrifice, Obama has seemed reluctant to call for austerity in a challenging economic moment, the NYT claimed. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who has covered the Bush administration for the Times, suggested Obama would use his inauguration, which takes place in eight days, as an opportunity to ask for patience from an uneasy public.
Ironically,
the
White
House
team
said,
Obama
may
have
found
an
unexpected
cheering
section
in
the
form
of
the
Bush
administration.
Outgoing
White
House
officials
who
recognize
the
current
president"s
unpopularity
are
hoping
the
president-elect
will
be
able
to
carry
out
parts
of
the
Bush
team"s
policy
vision,
particularly
with
respect
to
Iraq,
that
are
currently
incomplete.
“They
think
that
Obama
is
not
going
to
change
things
as
dramatically" as
people
think,"
one
of
the
panelists
said.
ANI